Removable straightening tool



l w. RKEEVER REMOVABLE STRAIGHTENING' De. Z9, 1936.

x .52, .no 7 9. W la. 5.

Filed ov. e, 1954 Patented Dec. 29, 1936 UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICEREMOVABLE STRAIGHTENING TOOL William R. Keever, Sulphur Mine, La.,assignor to The Union Sulphur Company, a corporation n (1 n l F u .s a;

i i c c J tof New Jersey Application November 6, 1934, Serial No.'151,688

4 Claims. (Cl. Z55-1) My invention relates to' rotary earth drilling andmore particularly to a device used in changing the direction of the boreof the well being drilled.

In rotary drilling it is sometimes desirable to change the direction inwhich the hole is being drilled; for example, an intended vertical holeactually may be being bored at an angle, and it becomes necessary tochange the direction of bore of the hole to its original verticaldirection. In some cases when drilling a normally vertical hole, it maybe desirable to have the hole proceed at an angle to the vertical axisto avoid certain formations or to lead to other formations.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a device which may beused in changing the direction of bore oi' a well.

Another object of Amy invention is the construction of a tool which maybe removed easily with the drill after the hole hasbeen given its newdirection.'

yIt is also an object of my invention to pro-V vide a device of suchconstructionthat aftaerjts use no side or rat holes will be left in thewell.

A further object of my invention is the construction of a device whichpermitsthe drill tov be subsequently raised without binding against andforming a wedge with the side of the tool, thus making difflcult itsremoval.

An additional object of my invention is to provide a device in which thetool can be accurately and securely placed in a desired orientedposition with reference to the new direction the hole is to take, andthen freed from the drilling member and pipe to permit the latter tofunction independently and without disturbing the position of the tool.

. Another object of my invention is the provision of a-tool which can.be rotated by the drill pipe at any time desired in order to secure itsremoval from the well in the event that the formations are of a typewhich tend to cause sticking of the tools in the hole.

A further object of my invention is the construction of a device inwhichthe drill bit and connected mechanism vare housed and pro-v tected bythe tool as the device is being placed in and removed from the well.

Still another object of my invention-is to construct. a device that maybe rapidly assembled or dismantled, facilitating the replacement of wornor damaged parts.

My invention has other objects and the device has other advantagesandincludes other fea- ,3 passes.

tures of novelty in addition to those' above mentioned as Will beapparentfrom consideration of the accompanying drawing forming a part ofthe specification, and in which:

Figure 1 is a diagram showing a Well that has been given a new directionby my novel device.

Figure 2 is a, view showing my novel device being used for straighteninga hole.

Figure 3 is a view of the outside of the device.

Figure 4 lis a detail'view showing a broken .vertical section with anintermediate portion of the device omitted.

Figure 5 is a section taken along line V-V of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a section taken along VI-VI of Figure4.

Figure 7 is a section ltaken along VII-VII of Figure 4. l

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the device includes a toolwhich has a main body 2. This body may be either hollow or solid and isprovided with a guiding surface or channel 2a that functions to guidethe tool in the formation of the new hole. In a vertical direction thischanneled. surface is straight and continuous and is in the samestraight axis as the drill pipe 3 above' the tool. The upper portion ofthe tool, `as shown in Figure 6, is cylindrical in shape and comprises along sleeve 4 which houses the drilling bit 5 and the mechanism which isemployed in placing and removing the device from the hole. The innersurface of the sleeve is a continuation ofi the surface 2a. -The sleeveis cut away at 2b vso that the channel 2a is flanked on. each side byprotruding metal ridges 2c that serve in guiding the drill bit in itsproper course. The outer side of the body is a tapering surface 2d whichcauses the bit 5 to be deflected as it moves downwardly. The' bottomofthe tool is provided with a point 2e for use in placing and securing itin the formation in the well. This portion 2 of the device is generallyknown as a Whipstock.

A collar 6 is threaded on the top of the sleeve 4 and a bushing 1 is`threaded into the upper portion of the collar. If it is desired, thecollar may be made integral with the sleeve 4 or may be integrallyformed with the bushing 1. The collar 6, therefore, serves to connectthe bushing with the body. The bushing 1 has a central opening'ia'through which the drill vpipe The drill pipe 3 may be rotated or movedin a vertical direction vthrough the opening 'la without moving thebushing or. the body.

The bushing 1 has a clutch face 1b formed on Iits downward side.

The drill bit 5 may be of any type desired and is secured in a drillcollar 8. Threaded into 'the top of the drill-collar at 8a is the drillpipe 3.

The drill bit 5 and drill'collar 8 may be moved vertically with the pipe3. On the upper surface of the drill collar 8 is formed a clutch face 8bwhich is adapted to seat against and cooperate with the clutch face 1bof the bushing 1 when the drill pipe and collar are raised.

A shear pin (or pins) 9 passes through the collar 6 and into the drillcollar 8. This pin secures the tool 2 to the drill pipe so that therewill be no4 relative movement between them as the device is beinglowered and correctly oriented in the hole. The strength of this pin 9is suflicient to hold the tool 2 in fixed position permitting the properplacing of the tool in the hole and yet shear upon the imposing ofadditional weight of the drill pipe, so that thereafter the drill pipeand bit may move independ-V sary. The assembled `device is lowered intothe hole and the tool is then correctly oriented with reference to thenew direction the hole is to take. 'I'he point 2e is secured in theformation to prevent movement of the tool during subsequent drilling.When additional weight is placed on the drill pipe 3, the pin 9 shearsand the drill.

pipe 3, drill collar 3 and bit 5 are free from the tool. The pipe 3 andbit 5 are then rotated in the customary manner while the tool 2 remainsstationary. As the drill pipe 3 is rotated.

it moves down through the opening 1a andforces the bit 3 along thechannel 2a.. [The side walls 2c give the bit directionto prevent slidingoi! to either side. The increasing outer thickness of the tool 2 kat itslower end, as ih cated at 2d, acts to force the bit against theo positeside wall of the hole and thus starts the rotary bit boring in a newdirection. By the time the drill has reached the lower end of mywhipstock 2, as shown in Figure 2, the well will have been given adenite new direction and drilling may be continued or the whipstock 2may be removed before continuing.

When it isf desired to remove the bit 5 or whipstock 2, the drill pipe 3is raised and the bit 5 recedes into the sleeve 4. The clutch face 1bengages the clutch face 3b and as the drill pipe 3 is further raised,the tool 2 will be lifted along with the pipe. Should the tool stick inthe formation, the drill pipe 3 may be rotated and through the clutchfaces the rotation imparted to the tool 2. Such rotational or twistingmovement will assist in freeing the tool from the engaging or stickingformations. A

It is desirable to use a shear pin 9 which sufiiciently strong tovpermit the whipstock to be placed in proper position without shearingand yet which is not of such strength that the whipstock will bedisturbed once it is positioned by the operation of shearing the pin topermit rotation of the bit 5. However, should the pin 9 be shearedbefore the tool is -nally positioned,

it will be noted that control over the whipstock is not entirely lostfor by raising the drill stem 3 slightly, the clutch faces 1b and 8b canbe brought together and the whipstock thus rotated to the desiredposition.

By making the inside of my whipstock 2 in line or parallel with thevertical axis of the lower portion of the drill pipe and continuing thisstraight surface all the way to the bottom of the tool, the newcorrected bore will begin at the very bottom of the old hole and thusthe same hole will continue in the new direction. No new hole will beformed and thus no rat holes are left in the side walls of the wellwhich would tend to engage vthe tools that are being lowered into thehole, and misdirect them into the end of the original rejected hole.

The inner face of the channel 2a being nontapering, I also avoid anywedging action of the bit against the inner face of the tool 2. Iftheinner face were tapered, there would be a certain undue amount offriction between the bit and the tool. If the bit were raised it wouldtend to raise the tool 2 along with the bit thus forming a wedge betweenthe bit and the well wall which would prevent further upward movement.The vertical face 2a parallel with the axis, however, decreases thefriction so that the undesirable wedging action will not take place.When using the device to straighten a well,'the non-tapering surface 2aalso prevents the drill pipe from binding orbending as would be the caseif the inner face of the tool were tapered. In my device the piperemains in a substantially straight line.

In a device in which the tool is secured to the drill, a vdifficultysometimes arises in that the drill becomes worn and must be replacedbefore the hole is nnished. In this event the tool 2 is raised to thesurface along with the worn drill. It is then sometimes diilicult toreinsert the drill in the desired hole. In my inven- `tion, byeliminating the side holes, there is only one possible hole into whichthe tool can be reinserted and this admittedly diilicult task is greatlysimplified when' my device is employed.

It is obvious that many modications of the .f

4 the direction of the drilling member. frangible Vfmeans positivelyconnecting said drilling member and said direction changing member toprevent relative rotation therebetween in order that the directionchanging member may be accurately positioned in the bore, saidconnection being adapted tobe broken before the direction of the bore ischanged, and clutch means for connecting saidmembers prior to theirremoval of the bore after the direction of the bore has been changed. y

2.A`drilling meansincludingadrillingmember, means acting to change thedirection of the drilling member, a shear pin connecting them andadapted to be broken', and a clutch means for-interconnecting them whenthe drilling member is raised.

3.a drillingmeanscomprisingadrillpipe. a drill collar secured to the endthereof, a drill bit secured in saiddrill collar, a clutch face formedon the upper surface of said drill collar, a tool adapted to change thedirection of said A a tool adapted to change the direction of saiddrilling means, a connecting collar secured to said tool, a shear pinsecuring said connecting collar to said drill collar, a bushing with anopening therein'secured in said connecting collar, said drill pipepassing through said opening, and a clutch face formed on thebottomsurface of said bushing.

4. A drilling means comprising a drill pipe, drill collar secured to theen'd thereof, a drill bit secured in said drill collar, a clutch faceformed on the upper surface of said drill collar;

drilling means. a connecting collar secured to said tool, a shear pinsecuring said connecting collar to said drill collar, a bushing with anopening therein.- secured in said connecting' cola lar, said drill pipepassing through said opening, a clutch face formed on the bottom of saidbushing, said body member being formed with a curved inner channel thatis in the same vertical axis as the drill pipe and a tapering outersurface that is at an angle to the vertical axis of the drill pipe.

WIILIAM R.. KEEVER.

